Conor McGregor has made some interesting new claims regarding his long-awaited return to fighting, but they’re definitely less concrete than past statements.
Way back in October 2025, “The Notorious” declared he would definitely fight on the UFC big White House Card in June.
“It’s a done deal, signed, delivered,“ McGregor told Sean Hannity. ”End of negotiations. McGregor will compete in the White House for America’s 250th birthday.“
McGregor then revealed things were far from signed and sealed in January.
“We’re gonna negotiate with the Ultimate Fighting Championship in February, and I’m very interested to go,” he said on Roblox of all places. “The pay-per-view system is done, I’m due a new contract. So we go into negotiations in February, and I’m very interested to see how it goes.”
Now those negotiations seem to be happening, as we’re getting semi-daily updates from the Mac.
“I have been offered an opponent and a date and I accept,” Conor wrote last week. “Waiting on my contract.”
On Saturday night during UFC Houston, McGregor shared his latest update.
“It’s a no name up next for me possibly, folks,” he tweeted and then deleted. “And as you know, idgaf. I ACCEPT. Send the contract, lads. CONOR MCGREGORS DEAL!”
When asked about McGregor’s latest message, UFC CEO Dana White suggested McGregor wasn’t as accepting behind the scenes as he made out on social media.
“If it was done and he accepted it, I would announce it,” White said.
Thus continues the strange multi-year saga of McGregor calling for fights and UFC suggesting McGregor doesn’t want to fight. Who is to blame? Certainly, Conor deserves some blame. He pulled out of UFC 303 with a broken pinky toe. He turned down a Turki Alalshikh fight to concentrate on a run for president of Ireland. But at what point do we ask why the UFC seems completely indifferent towards their largest star in the history of the sport coming back?
Fellow mega-star Ronda Rousey may have finally laid it out in a recent interview.
“They didn’t want to set a precedent of giving me the guaranteed money that I deserve,” Rousey told Jim Rome. “Because once I raise that tide it lifts all the boats. It’s in their best interest actually not to put on the best fights possible, but to spend as little as money as possible so that they can keep it.”
McGregor has two fights left on his current UFC contract, and clearly knows the real money is to be made on the other side of that. Rather than blow up the payscale or let McGregor potentially help another promotion gain traction, the UFC may be perfectly happy letting him waste the final years of his fighting prime in this limbo. And if he does agree to fight again on the terms of his existing contract just to wrap things up, we’ve seen the UFC pull out some vengeful matchmaking in response. Nate Diaz vs. Khamzat Chimaev, anybody?
As is becoming more and more standard with the UFC, the big news isn’t in the fights the promotion is booking but the fights they aren’t. And it all comes down to some dumb insistence the bean-counters in parent company TKO have on extracting value from UFC which is penny wise and pound foolish.
There’s no arguing that Conor McGregor wants to come back this summer and fight. Whether he can and if it will be in a fight anyone wants to see is completely in the UFC’s hands. We are not hopeful they don’t fumble it.
